Assembly for making a paper board sound recording package

ABSTRACT

A METHOD OF MAKING PACKAGES WITH SOUND-RECORDING PORTIONS THEREON IS DESCRIBED. THE COMPOSITE OF PACKAGE MATERIALS ADAPTED FOR IMPRESSION WITH THE RECORDED SOUNDPRODUCING IMAGE MEANS IS DESCRIBED AS WELL AS THE NOVEL PROCESS WHEREBY PREVIOUS STEPS ARE MODIFIED AND OTHERS ELIMINATED.

July 10, 1973 H. GORMAN 3,745,055

AN ASSEMBLY FOR MAKING A PAPER BOARD SOUND RECORDING PACKAGE Original Filed Jan. 7, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Impressable- 1O fOI/ Layer K V Carton Blank Ta die-cuffing machine with heafed record- Die-cuf Score (fold) Blank\ f Incision Record Surfbce Punchouf Perforahons 1q 73 Heat bonded F 2 Laminafe Record Grooves Laminafe Punchouf 3 Adhesive 74 73 Incision Pressure Paper-Board Adhesive Bl July 10, 1973 H. GORMAN AN ASSEMBLY FOR MAKING A PAPER BOARD SOUND RECORDING PACKAGE 7 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Jan.

FIG. 8

RDVERTISIHENT FIG. 5

Harry German INVENJOR.

BY 1 l 25 FIG. 4

July 10, 1973 H. GORMAN 3.745,055

AN ASSEMBLY FOR MAKING A PAPER BOARD SOUND RECORDING PACKAGE Original Filed Jan. 7, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet r1 Harry German United States Patent 3,745,055 ASSEMBLY FOR MAKING A PAPER BOARD SUUND RECQRDZNG PACKAGE Harry Gorman, 200 W. 54th St, New York, .NY. 10019 Continuation of abandoned application Ser. No. 789,473, Jan. 7, 1369. This application Mar. 1, 1971, Ser. No.

Int. c1. nszh 3/04 US. Cl. l6l-102 1 Claim ABSTRACT BF THE DISCLOSURE A method of making packages with sound-recording portions thereon is described. The composite of package materials adapted for impression with the recorded soundproducing image means is described as well as the novel process whereby previous steps are modified and others eliminated.

This application is a continuation of abandoned ap plication Ser. No. 789,473, filed Ian. 7, 1969.

The present invention relates to a method of making a package and, more particularly, to a method of forming packaging materials having sound-recording portions.

It has been proposed heretofore to form laminated sound recordings on relatively thin substrates, such as cardstock or stiff paper by laminating to the latter a foil of polyester, cellulosic or vinyl material or polyacrylate via an adhesive layer capable of bonding the foil to the substrate and thereafter impressing a spiral sounding recording groove in the foil to a depth equal at least to the foil thickness. The sound-recording groove surrounds the receiving hole or a weakened portion adapted to be removed to create such hole and the hole allows the record to be placed around the spindle of the turntable of a phonograph. In my U. S. Pats. Nos. 3,265,396 and 3,245,- 691, for example, I have described foldable units provided with sound-recording surfaces of this character, the substrates being relatively flexible paper and being stiffened by virtue of foils provided outwardly of the soundrecording zone or within the central portion.

It has also been proposed to provide such sound recordings on containers adapted to receive goods, a sound recording then offering an Audio Premium inducement to purchase the goods or containing promotional material laudatory of the goods. In US Pat. No. 3,367,665 and application Ser. No. 657,819 therefore, there are described systems wherein the cover of a coffee can, reusably mounted on the latter after the seal is broken, may be provided with sound-recording grooves such that the recording-playing disks may be removed from the cover flange or may be mounted with the remainder of the cover on the phonograph turntable. Similarly in application Ser. No. 658,684 of which I am a coinventor and issued as US. Pat. No. 3,463,303 on Aug. 26, 1969, there is described a label for containers. This label bears a sound-reproducing groove. When the label is detached from the container, folded upon itself and the adjacent portions are adhered, a satisfactory stiffened sound re producing record results.

When principles which have been exploited for a long time in the formation of such paper records are applied to the use of such records on packaging materials such as cardboard or paperboard, cartons, metallic-foil coated cartons, and the like, substantial difliculty is encountered. Either the entire carbon or carton blank must be laminated with the embossable thermoplastic foil by the intervening layer of adhesive prior to embossing the soundrecording groove into the foil or else the carton or packice age must be constructed entirely of a material which can be impressed with the sound-recording groove, the latter being delimited by perforations or the like which enable separation of the sound-recording portion from the balance of the packaging material. A third method employed heretofore has been to form paper records as cards or the like and insert them in or affix them to the package. None of these methods is fully satisfactory. For example, the first-mentioned method increases the laminating cost far above that required for the manufacture of a record, whereas the second method requires the use of nonlaminated materials which do not provide satisfactory record-impressions or for proper record-playback characteristics. The third technique requires a complete separate record making operation and an extra packaging step. It is also unsatisfactory because it invites pilferage by detachment and removal of the recording during display and before purchase.

Each of the aforementioned techniques also involves a financial disadvantage or disadvantages in the technological sense. Thus, the prohibitive costs of laminating the entire carton or unit, or the paperboard from which it is manufactured, has completely prevented the use of laminated embossed recordings on such cartons as a practical matter. Furthermore even the limited lamination of the paperboard stock has proved impractical since the application of the laminating foil and adhesive under pressure must occur after imprinting of the stock. Hence accurate positioning and embossing becomes essential and prior-art methods have not successfully solved this problem.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved method of making a package containing a good quality sound recording of the character described.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making a sound recording whereby the disadvantages enumerated above are obviated.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide an improved article, adapted to be embossed with a soundrecording groove of the character described, which greatly facilitates the manufacture of a package containing a good quality sound recording.

Still another object of this invention is to extend the principles originally set forth in my aforementioned c0- pending applications and prior patents to the manufacture of a package, containing a sound recording which may convey a message associated with the goods contained therein, whereby the lamination of portions of the record layer adapted to be turned under the primary recording face is rendered less necessary than heretofore and the cost involved in such laminating operations can be reduced.

It has now been found that it is possible to form a packaging member, e.g. a paperboard carton blank, with a sound-recording surface thereon without the disadvantages characterizing the earlier systems, when a flat surface of the blank having a relatively large surface area forms the substrate and a smaller piece of thermoplastic foil, impressible with a sound-recording band, adapted to be played back on a phonograph record, and of an area at least equal to the area of this band is applied to a broad surface of a much larger area of the carton blank and temporarily held thereon at least at selected locations along the underside of the foil.

Thus I am able to form a packaging member with a sound recording occupying less than the entire portion of the package fashioned from said member without the disadvantages found in the aforesaid previously existing systems for preparing packages with sound recordings thereon.

The present invention involves the simultaneous bonding and embossing of a sound-reproducing into foils which are selectively positioned in the portions of the packaging member wherein it is desired to locate the sound recording. The packaging member acts as the substrate for the foil into which the groove containing the sound recording is embossed. The substrate and the foil are permanently bonded together by an adhesive, disposed between foil and substrate, which becomes part of the composite used to bear the sound record. The foil which is embossable with the spiral annular groove is coated, according to an important feature of this invention, with a thermally activatable adhesive. The adhesive is preferably in a nontacky state at room temperature.

According to one aspect of this invention the foil is temporarily applied and held at the selected position in the areas of the packaging member where it is desired to locate the recorded sound band. The packaging member, carrying the temporarily-held foil is subsequently permanently bonded to the substrate and simultaneously impressed under heat and pressure by die means, with the record grooves along an annular band surrounding the spindle-encompassing portion of the area bearing the recorded sound.

The heat and pressure serve to activate the adhesive coated upon the surface of the foil juxtaposed with the substrate of packaging material, thereby effecting a firm bonding of the foil to the substrate, while at the same time absorbing some of the deformation of the foil by the groove and transmitting some of the deformation, if necessary, for dissipation into the substrate. The groove being embossed into the composite is generally of a depth substantially equal to or exceeding the thickness of the film portion of the foil.

As has been noted in my prior applications relating to the produtcion of laminated paper records, best results are obtained when the grooves are impressed to a depth of 2-3 mils, while the overall thickness of the laminating foil and the adhesive layer previously applied thereto is a fraction thereof. Consequently the grooves not only extend to a depth greater than the thickness of the foil and the adhesive layer, but also penetrate to some extent ino the underlying layer. While I do not wish to be bound by any theory in this regard, it should be pointed out that my present method of simultaneously effecting activation of the adhesive and impression of the grooves appears to give surprisingly improved results with respect to the dimensional stability of the record grooves and their resistance to distortion, by comparision with earlier systems in which a permanent adhesive lamination is carried out and embossment with the grooves follows. Thus it may be hypothesized that the permanent lamination step fixes the adhesive in place and limits the permanent deformation required for embossment, whereas the simultaneous embossment and activation of adhesive molds the grooves in a plastic mass which includes at least part of the substrate and locks in the shape of the groove when the embossing heat and pressure are terminated.

It must be recognized that the present invention does not reside simply in effecting the bonding or laminating the film to the substrate to be followed by the embossing of the laminate of the groove of the sound record, but involves in a single operation the bonding and the embossing of the foil to the substrate with the record groove impression embossed into the combined foil-adhesivesubstrate composite. This single operation is permitted by the use of the foil which consists of the polymeric film coated on one major surface with a thermally activable adhesive that preferably is non-tacky at room temperature. While tacky adhesives may be used, they present problems in handling prior to positioning of the foils on the packaging materials. Special release papers or releasetreated surfaces are required under such circumstances to handle or store the coated films between the coating operation, the fashioning of foils and their application to the desired areas on the packaging material.

The preferred non-tacky adhesives permit easy positioning of the foils prepared from films coated with such adhesives. Further, the die cutting of the foils to proper sizes and shapes is easily accomplished without fouling of the cutting dies. Similarly the positioning of the foils in the desired areas can be mechanically achieved without fouling of the positioning devices.

The positioning of the coated foils can be accomplished on the substrate of packaging material on the flat stock from commercial rolls; on sheet stock, before or after printing; or on the flat carton blanks. The bonding and record embossing may then be performed in a simple operation by the application of heat and pressure to the areas by the positioned foil. The ranges of heat and pressure are well known to this art and per se form no part of this invention.

If desired according to one aspect of this invention, the die cutting of the heat-scalable foil and carton blank from the stock can be achieved during the same bonding and record pressing operation, the pressure used for this operation can also drive the cutting dies.

A further specific aspect of this invention involves the step of initially tacking the foil to the substrate in the desired area to allow the mechanical handling of the packaging material prior to the bonding and pressing operation which converts the elements of film, adhesive and substrate into a final recorded sound-bearing article.

The tacking step may involve any temporary aifixing technique which will maintain the foil in position until the bonding and record-pressing operation is performed. Affixing techniques include the application of an electrostatic field to one of the members with a polarity opposite that of the other member so that the electrostatic force holds the members together. Alternatively, spots of a pressure-sensitive or contact adhesive may be applied to one of the members for temporarily affixing them together when the two members are initially brought into contact, or the positioning device may include heated members which will activate the heat-activatable adhesive at the specific points, usually along the periphery, and which will then fasten the foil to the substrate at these points by the action of the adhesive.

It will be understood that it is preferred to perform the bonding and pressing operation for the sound record prior to the erection of the container blanks, but if conditions so necessitate, it is possible, by the use of backing dies to perform the bonding and pressing operation on the erected boxes.

The box surface bearing the recording may be any interior or exterior surface, i.e. the record may be on the inside or outside of the erected box. Placing the record on the inside protects it from accidental scratching during display periods before purchase but so hiding the record ing may result in the loss of visual sales stimulation. However, there is nothing in the operation of this invention that precludes the application of the foils on opposite sides of the substrate and the bonding and pressing of the sound records on both sides of the substrate resulting in a record on the inside and outside of the box.

The areas bearing the record may be circumscribed with perforations or may be scored or partially slit to facilitate detaching of the sound bearing recorded areas from the box. Such perforation techniques are known to the art as is the operation of pre-perforation of the spindle-accepting holes at the center of the recorded areas.

The foil itself may be preprinted with an advertising or other message and/or designs which may appear at the upper foil surface or on its underside (above the thermally activatable adhesive) for exposure through the transparent foil. In this case printing of the paperboard stock can be avoided.

Generally, however, it is preferred to complete the printing operations before the positioning of the foils and before the bonding and pressing operation. By so doing it is possible to extend the printed areas under the areas covered by the foils into which the sound record is pressed. Since the films are thin and at least at the thicknesses used, transparent, the printing shows through the record bearing areas. However, the printing operations may be performed after the positioning of the foil or after the bonding and pressing operation.

The printing operation may include the imprinting of solid or broken lines and/ or instructions to the consumer as to how the recording may be severed from the box.

According to another aspect of this invention, the bonding and pressing operation may be done concurrently with at least one phase of the printing or finishing operation whereupon the printing press will be provided with heated dies reinforced to provide the proper pressing forces.

Still another feature of this invention resides in the provision of means enabling rapid separation of the record from the remainder of the carton. I have found, surprisingly, that it is possible, preferably simultaneously with the temporary application of the foil and adhesive to the blank or other flat substrate, to temporarily secure a string, strand or tape to the blank around the surface to which the grooves are to be applied. This tear strip is bonded to the substrate simultaneously with the permanent bonding of the foil and its embossment with the sound recording groove and, advantageously, with the scoring or weakening of the substrate as mentioned earlier. The tape or strip may have a nonbonded end or tab which is readily accessible to enable it to be gripped by the user and torn from the carton, thereby releasing the recording. The tear strip may underlie a marginal portion of the foil outside the recording surface and may be pressed deeply into the substrate.

My invention also provides an intermediate article of manufacture in the form of a blank, preferably printed, to which the foil and thermally activatable undercoat have been temporarily tacked. This unit, which can be stacked or stored as desired Without shifting of the foils on the substrate, may be fed at a later date to the embossing press which effects permanent bonding and concurrent embossment of the record grooves.

In this invention the terms film and foil, as they relate to the material for accepting the sound reproducing record groove, embraces synthetic films, including cellulosics, such as the cellulose esters, for example, the acetates and aceto-butyrates, and the regenerated celluloses such as the cellophanes; the polyesters, including MY- LAR and related terephthlate films; the polyolefins such as polyethylene; polyamides such as the low melting, highly plasticized nylons and the polyvinyl esters including the acetates, chlorides, and the esters partially hydrolyzed to alcohols.

The thermally activatable adhesives include any adhesive that may be coated or adhered onto a surface of an above mentioned film and is preferably non-tacky at room temperature but which upon the application of heat and pressure will flow and adhere to the substrate. Upon cooling the adhesive will maintain the bond between the polymeric film and the substrate and will maintain the relative positions of the elements of the bonded composite to insure the retention of the groove and the striations thereon that form the sound record.

The substrate, as the term is used herein, encompasses paper stock, particularly of the grades used for paperboard cartons. This stock may be treated for moisture resistance, cold resistance, gas permeability as necessitated by the product being enclosed. The term substrate also encompasses newer packaging materials such as the foams of both the rigid and flexible varieties, including those foams that form skins at the mold or casting surfaces, as well as other polymeric materials used to form containers and of which sound record-bearing composites may be prepared according to the process of this invention.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a blank to which the impressible foil layer, previously coated with a thermally active adhesive is tacked by dots of a contact adhesive or by electrostatic means and prior to or after the passage of the blank into a die-cutting machine;

FIG. 1A is a detailed view with portions shown in an exaggerated thickness, of an assembly from which a sound recording package can be fabricated;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a blank after die-cutting, the die-cutting having been carried out concurrently with the bonding of the laminate to the substrate;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevational cross section through a portion of the package showing the relationship of the laminate thereto;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the finished package;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a portion of a printed sheet adapted to be formed into a folding box according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a view of the sheet after it has been die-cut and the temporarily adhered foil bonded in place;

FIG. 7 is a view of a die-cut blank prior to gluing; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a portion of a sheet according to another feature of my invention.

In the drawing, the invention is illustrated as applicable to a package in the form of a cardboard carton which may be assembled after blanking and die-cutting or set to form the finished unit. Frequently, the die-cut blanks are stacked in their flat position and delivered to the consumer for set up at that time. Moreover, the invention is also applicable to package units of other types, e.g. envelopes, catalogs and book covers, set-up boxes and the like which are adapted to be imprinted, die-cut or embossed in suitable presses.

As shown in FIG. 1, a cardboard sheet is generally fed to a die-cutting machine to form a blank and, in the illustrated sequence, a preformed rectangular blank 19 adapted to be formed into a cardboard carton, is transported to the die-cutting machine in the direction of arrow 11 along a transport path 12. A laminate foil 13, here shown to be of rectangular configuration although substantially any configuration which accommodates a record impression may be used, is composed of an embossable synthetic resin as described in the U.S. patents mentioned earlier and is coated with a thermally active adhesive 14 along its surface adapted to contact the upper surface of the blank 10. It has been found to be impossible to properly position a foil of limited area (by comparison with the area of the blank) unless some temporary force is provided to retain the laminate on the surface of the blank. The temporary force can be friction provided along the contact in surfaces of the foil and the substrate, an electrostatic charge applied to the foil or the substrate or, in the case illustrated, a number of dots 15 (see FIG. 1A) of a pressure-responsive or socalled contact adhesive of the type used in pressureapplied tapes or ordinary glue or paste. While spaced dots have been provided in this system, it will be evident that strips of limited area (by comparison with the area of the foil), disks or other configurations of adhesive may be used. The foil 13 is applied by rolling it onto the substrate 10 or by applying it flat to the latter with just enough pressure to allow the contact adhesive 15 to grip the surface of the substrate. The foil 13 is effectively immobilized on the substrate and passes therewith to the die-cutting machine without requiring i e-registration or alignment of the foil.

As shown in FIG. 2, the die-cutting machine may punch selected regions 16 and 17 from the blank, provide fold scores 18 and incisions 19 which allow the blank to be folded into the carton 20 shown in FIG. 4. Simultaneously, the die-cutting machine may perforate the boundary of the laminate 13 as represented at 21 to allow the record to be removed from the carton when use of the latter has concluded. Similarly, incisions may be made at 22 to facilitate removal of the central plug and formation of a spindle hole enabling the record to be mounted upon a phonograph turntable. Concurrently with the die-cutting operation, the spiral record grooves 23 are embossed in the laminate to adapt preferably greater than the thickness of the foil 13 (FIG. 3) while the adhesive 14 is activated to bond the foil to the substrate coextensively with the foil. The complete recording is represented at 25 in FIG. 4 and is shown after the carton has been set More commonly, however, a folding carton is prepared by initially printing large sheets as represented at 30 in FIG. 5. The illustrated portion of the sheet is shown to have received advertising or identification imprinting at zones 31-34. These large sheets are then die-cut into blanks 35 with tabs 36 and 37 concurrently with embossment of the sound-recording groove 38 in the foil and permanent bonding of the latter to the blank. The foil 39, whose underside has been previously coated with the thermally activatable adhesive, has been tacked to the sheet prior to die cutting (FIG. The blanks are then glued and delivered to the packer.

In FIG. 7 I show a sheet to which the foil 43 has been permanently applied after printing and temporary bonding. The outlines of the blank 40, with the tabs 41 and 42, are shown in dot-dash lines and are die cut in a subsequent step.

In FIG. 8 I show a sheet 44 which has its laminated record 45 surrounded by a tear strip 46, the tab of which may be gripped to enable the tear strip to be drawn off and sever the recording from the package.

I claim:

1. An assembly comprising a folded flat paperboard substrate adapted to be die-cut into a package blank and having an exposed fiat surface; a transparent syntheticresin foil overlying said surface over a limited portion thereof and embossable under heat and pressure; a layer of thermally activatable adhesive in an ineffective state bonded to the underside of said foil and coextensive therewith for afiixing said foil to said surface upon the embossing of said foil; and a plurality of dots of a pressuresensitive adhesive on said layer and within the outlines of the thermally activatable adhesive layer between the thermally activatable adhesive layer and said exposed flat surface of said blank, said pressure sensitive adhesive bonding said layer of thermally activatable adhesive to said surface with sufficient strength to prevent relative movement of said foil and said substrate upon the passage of the latter through a die-cutting machine provided with means for embossing said foil under heat and pressure to form a spiral sound-recording groove therein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,975,091 3/1961 Tobey 161-38 3,127,303 3/1964 Neuhauser et al. l6l146 3,140,095 7/1964 Henry et al. 274-42 3,463,303 8/1969 Gorman et al 274--42 MORRIS SUSSMAN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

